A

b
W O R L D F I T F O R C H I L D R E N

C
“Life’s aspirations come
HILDREN in the guise of children.”

FUT URE
:: RABINDRANDATH TAGORE ::

ARE
In 2002, the
United Nations
THE adopted a
Resolution called
“A World Fit for
Children.”
SGI-USA has created this
exhibit to illustrate some of
the points in the resolution
and to create dialogue
about the rights of children
throughout the world.

We hope that people of all

ages can learn from this
exhibit and from one
another. Together we can
foster safe, healthy, and
happy children—the
leaders of tomorrow.
 The United
Nations
Children’s
Fund
UNICEF is a
global champion for
children’s rights. It is the
only international
organization working
specifically for children and
children’s rights.
UNICEF makes a lasting
difference in the lives of
children and their families
by working with
communities and
influencing governments in
more than 160 countries.
The Rights of
Carol Bellamy, executive director of the United
Nation’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
Children
1924 The Geneva Declaration of the Rights of
the Child contains basic protections for
children.
“I wish all adults would
have a great heart that
they will always
1948 The United Nations Universal Declaration
understand the children.”
of Human Rights includes special care
and assistance for children.
:: Cynthia Barreda Vilchez, Age 9, Peru ::
UNICEF works to ensure
1953
Food and supplies are unloaded at an orphanage
run by UNICEF in Liberia.
children’s rights to health The United Nations Children’s Fund
and nutrition; education; (UNICEF) is made a permanent part of
the United Nations
emergency relief; protection;
and water and sanitation. 1959 The United Nations Declaration of the
Rights of the Child is adopted.
UNICEF depends on
voluntary contributions from 1989 The Convention on the Rights of the
governments and individuals, Child, the most widely accepted human
and fundraising, including
Orphans being transported to a UNICEF orphanage
rights treaty in history, is adopted
in Goma, Zaire.
unanimously by the United Nations
the sale of greeting cards and General Assembly.
other merchandise.
1990 UNICEF sponsors The World Summit for
UNICEF is a driving force for Children, the first global meeting
people throughout the dedicated to improving children’s lives.
world working to ensure a
better future for children. 2000 The UN Millennium Development Goals
specify targets related to children, including
Children getting a checkup at a UNICEF medical
clinic in As-Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. achieving universal primary education.
2002 The Special Session of the UN General
Assembly on Children is convened to review
progress since 1990 and re-energize the global
commitment to children’s rights.

The
The Convention on the Rights of the Child,
adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1989, is an
Convention
international human rights treaty that places children
at the center of the quest for the universal application
on the Rights
of human rights.
The Convention is the most universally accepted
of the Child human rights instrument in history—it has been
ratified by every country in the world except two:
Somalia and the United States.
The Convention spells out the basic human rights
that children everywhere—without discrimination—
have: the right to survival; to develop to the fullest;
“Life’s aspirations come to protection from harmful influences, abuse and
in the guise of children.” exploitation; and to participate fully in family, cultural
and social life.
:: Rabindranath Tagore ::
Millennium
In 2002 the United Nations issued a
Millennium Declaration, setting out the hopes
Development
of member nations for a peaceful world with a
decent standard of living for all.
Goals
The Millennium Development goals are to:
• Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
• Achieve universal primary education
• Promote gender equality and empower women
• Reduce child mortality
• Improve maternal health
“Children are at the heart of one • Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
and every Millennium
• Ensure environmental sustainability
Development Goal, beginning • Develop a global partnership for development
with the battle against poverty.”
:: Hilde F. Johnson, Minister of International
Development, Norway ::
In 2002 more than 7,000 people
participated in the Special Session of the UN
A World
General Assembly on Children. The nations of the
world committed themselves to a series of goals
Fit for
to improve the situation of children and young
people.
Children
Some 180 nations adopted the document,
“A World Fit for Children.”
The new agenda for—and with—the world's children,
included 21 specific goals and targets for the next
decade. The agenda focused on four key priorities:
promoting healthy lives;
“Together we will build a world in • providing quality education for all;
• protecting children against abuse, exploitation and
which all girls and boys can enjoy
childhood—a time of play and
learning, in which they are loved,
violence;
• combating HIV/AIDS.
respected and cherished...”
:: UN Resolution S-27/2, May 2002 :: The document called upon all of us to join in a global
movement to build a world fit for children.
 The 10
Imperatives for
Children
1 Leave no child out
2 Put children first
3 Care for every child
4 Fight HIV/AIDS
5 Stop harming & exploiting children
6 Listen to children
7 Educate every child
8 Protect children from war
9 Protect the earth for children
10 Fight poverty: invest in children
— Drafted by youth delegates
at the UN’s Special Session on
Children, May 2002
Child Delegates
to UN Special Session
The 2002 United Nations Special
Session on Children was unique—the first time
children were official delegates to such a session.
More than 400 children and adolescents,
representing 154 countries, met before the
session in a Children’s Forum. All the participants
had been selected through competitions in
schools or communities.
The young people took part in
decisions, discussions, media
events and celebrations. They
Gabriela Azurduy Arrieta meets with Kofi Annan
during the UN’s Special Session for Children.
discussed ways for children
to work with governments
and organizations to make
the world a better place.
Two children selected by the
group presented the
statement, “A World Fit for Us”,
at the opening of the General
Assembly debate, formally addressing
the Assembly on behalf of children for the first
time in the United Nations’ history.
 I M P E R AT I V E N U M B E R O N E

Leave The Numbers

No Child
90 percent of domestic workers, the largest group of child

1
workers in the world, are girls between 12 and 17 years old.

There are between 120 million and 150 million children and young people with
disabilities in the world. It is estimated that less than 2 percent

Out
of them go to school.

In Japan, by law, children born out of wedlock only inherit half

of what children born to married couples receive.

Every girl and boy is born
free and equal, with dignity
and rights. All forms of
discrimination affecting
children must end.
Children are discriminated against
in large and small ways all over the world.
They and their human rights are often ignored.
Basic efforts on behalf of children—in education,
health care, and ending child poverty—often come
last. In many parts of the world, girls are particular
In Bulgaria, 42% of the Roma, a minority subjected to racism, prejudice
and rejection, have not completed basic education. In Bosnia and Herzegovina
up to 80% of Roma children are not enrolled in school.
“Whole groups of children are
being denied a future because
of the color of their skin, their
Vietnamese
physical/intellectual
characteristics, their ancestry
Boy Loses
Hanoi
and their gender.”

Hand
V I E T N A M

targets of discrimination. Children with special :: Zuhy Sayeed ::

needs require special services.

and Leg
Ho Chi Minh City

• What can you do to ensure the fair and

equal treatment of children in your community? VIETNAM

W
hen Phan Van Rot
was 14 years old
he walked down
to the stream near
his house in the village of
Quet Thang in Viet Nam to
check his family’s fish traps.
He noticed a strange object
in the water. Rot picked it up
to look at it more closely and
it exploded in his hand. It was
a cluster bomb, left in the
area by US Navy attacks
many years ago.
The bomb took off Rot’s left
hand above the wrist and his
left leg below the knee.
He also had many internal
injuries, and his family didn’t
expect him to live. An
international charity provided
funds for Rot to be treated at
a local hospital, and will
make sure that he gets the
treatment he needs, and a
new hand and leg.
Rot’s family is very poor, and
though he will have
treatment and artificial limbs,
it will take a lot of courage
and perseverance for him to
succeed in his new life.
 I M P E R AT I V E
Put
Children
2 Voices of Youth, a UNICEF sponsored Internet discussion site, has reached
First
It is all of our responsibility—from
governments to children themselves—
to ensure that children’s rights
are respected.
Adults must examine their priorities in every
arena to ensure that children come first.
Children’s needs are often the last considered—
they are the most powerless members of a
community. The voices of children and
adolescents must be heard in every organization,
agency and government that affects their lives.
• What are you doing to ensure that
children’s rights are respected and that children
are heard in your community?
N U M B E R T W O
The Numbers
At the UN Special Session on Children in 2000 more than 400 children
from 154 nations attended the Children’s Forum, where they explored ways to
expand children’s rights.
thousands of young people in more than 180 countries.
Almost half of Iraq’s total population is children under 18. The war in Iraq
puts children at particular risk. UNICEF’s key priorities in Iraq are the
recovery of basic health services and the immediate opening of classrooms.
“When I approach a child, he
inspires in me two sentiments;
tenderness for what he is, and
respect for what he may become.”
:: Louis Pasteur ::
La Paz
Kid Power
B O L I V I A
Sucre
Everywhere
BOLIVIA
G
abriela Azurduy make the world a better place
Arrieta, 13, from for all. You call us the future,
Bolivia, was one of but we are also the present.”
two delegates to the
2002 United Nations Special Children all over the world,
Session on Children selected despite many difficulties, are
to deliver a message to the taking charge of their own
General Assembly. It was the lives, creating networks, and
first time that children had influencing policy.
addressed a formal session
of the United Nations.
“We are children whose
voices are not being heard:
it is time we are taken into
account,” Gabriela said. “We
are united by our struggle to
 I M P E R AT I V E N U M B E R T H R E E

Care The Numbers

For Every
In India 47% of children under 5 are classified as underweight.

3 Half of all deaths from whooping cough, a third of all cases of polio and
a quarter of all deaths from measles occur in children under one
year old.

Child
More than half of child deaths are associated with malnutrition
which weakens the body's resistance to illness

Medical knowledge Diarrhea kills over 1 million children every year through
has advanced to the point that no child dehydration and malnutrition. About 1 in every 200 children who contract
needs to suffer or die from common diarrhea will die from it.
childhood diseases. There is enough money
and food on the planet to feed or provide
supplements to every child. Yet every year, over
10 million children under the age of five die We can ensure that every
from readily preventable and treatable illnesses child has the best possible
such as dehydration as a result of diarrhea, acute
respiratory infection, measles, and malaria.
start in life—good health,

Ryan
In half of the cases, illness is complicated by proper nutrition, and a
malnutrition. Accidents kill or seriously injure large safe environment.
Works for
numbers of children in both wealthy and poor nations.

• Do your children, and other “If we don’t stand up for

children in your community, children, then we don’t
stand for much.”
Clean C A N A D A

Water in
have up-to-date Ottawa
immunizations?

Africa
:: Marian Wright Edelman ::
CANADA

R
yan Hreljac lives in
Canada. He was 6
years old when his
teacher told his class
about people in Africa who
had a hard time getting clean
water and access to wells.
Without clean water, people,
especially children, can get
sick and sometimes die.
Ryan asked his parents for
extra chores so that he could
earn money to dig wells in
Africa. Soon he discovered
that one well cost $2,000,
but he wasn’t discouraged.
He began to make speeches
and helped to raise more
and more money. His
organization, RyansWell.com
eventually helped to raise
nearly a million dollars.
Ryan says, “I have learned
that every child needs certain
things if they are going to be
healthy and happy no matter
where they live. Kids need
clean water and sanitation,
they need enough food to
eat, they need to be able to
go to school, and they need
a chance to play and have
fun. That way they can help
out in the world too.”
 I M P E R AT I V E N U M B E R F O U R
The Numbers

Fight
Two million children live with AIDS and over 15 million have
been orphaned by AIDS, most of them in sub-Sahran Africa.

One third of the 2 million children living with HIV were infected through

4 breastfeeding.

HIV/AIDS
Fourteen million children under the age of 15 have lost one or both
parents to AIDS. By 2010, this number is expected to exceed 25 million.

One in four people between 15 and 49 in Southern Africa is

living with HIV.

We must protect children and

their families from the
devastating impact of
HIV/AIDS.
People who live in wealthy nations
often don’t know about the horrifying impact
“My friend with AIDS
is still my friend.”
:: Xolani Nkosi ::
worldwide effects of this scourge. Complicated
by misinformation and discrimination, AIDS Pretoria

South
that HIV/AIDS is having throughout the world. impacts children everywhere.
The statistics listed here are only a small
S O U T H A F R I C A

African Boy
indication While there are now many drugs on the market
of the that effectively control AIDS, few of these are Cape Town

available or affordable in poor countries. Africa

has 70 percent of the adults, and 80 percent
of the children in the world who are living Inspires SOUTH AFRICA
with HIV/AIDS, but the disease is also out of
Others
X
control in many other parts of the world. olani Nkosi was born
A UN report says “Low visibility of the with HIV in South
disease is no guarantee that it is not Africa, where more
spreading.” than 70,000
children are born HIV-positive
• Do the children in your life have every year. Gail Johnson, a
accurate information on how AIDS is volunteer at an AIDS center,
transmitted? fell in love with the wide-eyed
two year old Zulu boy. She
arranged to become his
foster mother.
When Johnson tried to send
Nkosi to primary school,
some parents opposed his
enrollment because he was
HIV-positive. Johnson
complained publicly and
won her case. Nkosi went
to school.
Nkosi fought against his
disease and for other
children. He became a
national figure in the
campaign to help people to
understand AIDS. In July
2000 Nkosi addressed
delegates at the international
AIDS conference in Durban.
“Please help people with
AIDS,” he said. “Support
them, love them, care for
them.”
Nkosi died on June 1, 2001.
He was 12 years old, and a
national hero.
 I M P E R AT I V E N U M B E R F I V E

Stop The Numbers

Harming &
More than 1 million children worldwide are living
in detention as a result of being in conflict with the law.

5
Exploiting
246 million children work, with about 180 million
engaged in the worst forms of child labor.

Two million children are exploited through

Children
prostitution and pornography

Forty million children below the age of 15 suffer

from abuse and neglect.

Violence and abuse must be

stopped now. The sexual and
economic exploitation of
children must end. “We are guilty of many errors and
There are so many ways that many faults, but our worst crime
children are harmed and exploited
• Look for the Rugmark label on rugs. is abandoning our children... Islamabad

throughout the world that it can seem

It certifies that child labor was not used To them we cannot answer Multan

overwhelming. All around us children are

in the manufacture of the carpet. ‘Tomorrow.’ Their name
being abused and neglected. Yet there is is ‘Today.’” P A K I S T A N

always something that you can do to help,

• If you know or suspect
a child has been abused, :: Gabriel Mistral ::
often in your own community. Even seemingly
neglected, or exploited,
small things—offering child care for a stressed-out PA K I STA N
friend or volunteering in a youth group—
contact an appropriate
agency right away. Iqbal’s
W
can have big results.

Story hen Iqbal Masih

was four years old
he went to work in
a filthy carpet
factory in Pakistan. As he
grew older, he was chained
to a loom and worked twelve
hours a day, six days a week.
In 1993, when Iqbal was ten
years old, he went to a
meeting sponsored by the
Bonded Labor Liberation
Front. There he learned that
children had rights. He spoke
about his suffering, and his
speech was printed in the
local paper.
Iqbal went to school and
became a leader. He traveled
and made speeches. He
taught other children about
their rights, and helped to
free many thousands of
children from bonded labor.
His dream was to grow up
to become a lawyer. But his
activities made him a target
of the carpet industry.
In 1995, when he was
twelve years old, Iqbal was
assassinated while riding
his bike.
 I M P E R AT I V E
Listen
to
6
Children
Respect the rights of children and
young people to express themselves
and to participate in making the
decisions that affect them.
Today’s children are the leaders
and citizens of tomorrow. Yet children’s
voices are missing from most of the
bodies that make decisions that affect
their lives. It is critical that children’s views
be sought out and considered, from the
highest levels of government to the daily
functions of family life.
Listening is only one step; adults
should also take action based
on children’s input.
Listening to children and
encouraging their
N U M B E R S I X
participation in decision-making helps
to give them the experience they need
to lead effectively and contribute
responsibly as adults.
• Are there children on the governing
councils of the schools, churches, and other
organizations with which you are involved?
• How much do children participate
in your family’s decisions, large and small?
The Numbers
UNICEF supports 23 weekly programs on Radio Mozambique,
in 12 local languages, all written and produced by 27 children. Program
topics range from children’s rights to HIV/AIDS.
In Madagascar in 2004, 90 school children presented an action plan to the
National Assembly. One student said that the experience “made me forget
that I am poor because…at least someone has listened to me.”
In a 2001 UNICEF survey, adolescents said that they want to participate in
decision-making processes concerning their lives. 86.7% of adolescent boys
and 89.6% of adolescent girls want more say in family decisions.
“The first duty of love
is to listen.”
:: Paul Tillich ::
Kenyan Girl
Speaks to
K E N Y A
Nairobi
UN
General
K ENYA
Assembly
J
ennifer Jadwero, a 14- So to find a solution to the
year-old Kenyan girl, problem, both girls and boys,
addressed the UN women and men, must work
Special Session on together.”
Children in 2002. She talked
about the many different Jennifer said, “If one child is
kinds of discrimination told, and that child tells
against girl children. another child, the message
can be spread rapidly.”
Jennifer described how she
started a club in her school. Jennifer was invited to speak
She asked both boys and girls at a conference on violence
to work together against against women, and has now
violence. Jennifer said, “The helped to start clubs around
problem of gender-based the world.
discrimination is not just a
matter of a few bad boys and
men… but is a problem of
our society’s social make-up.
 I M P E R AT I V E N U M B E R S E V E N

Educate
The Numbers
More than 15 percent of poor girls between seven and 18 have
never been to school of any kind.

7 Every
Infants born to mothers with no formal education are twice
as likely to die before their first birthday than
are babies born to mothers with post-primary school education.

Child
One million children and adolescents aged 12 to 17 are still
unable to read and write. More than 121 million children never
see the inside of a classroom.

Every child—all girls and

boys —must be allowed
“Education is not
to learn. filling a bucket but
lighting a fire.”
Children are born eager to learn. All too often they do not have • Do you support or :: William Butler Yeats ::
access to education. Today, more than 110 million school-age children volunteer in your local
worldwide, mostly girls, are not going to school and millions more schools? S U D A N

are receiving poor quality education. • How are you

helping your school-age Makka Khartoum

Goes to
A quality, basic education is every child’s fundamental right. Children children to enjoy their
from families without money are entitled to an education. Girls are school years and stay in

School
entitled to an education. So are children who must work, children school?
of ethnic minorities, children with disabilities, and children affected
SUDAN
by violence, conflict or HIV/AIDS.

M
akka Adoum
Daoud, is an 11-year-
old girl. She and her
mother escaped
from war in the Sudan, and
now live in a crowded
refugee camp in Chad.
More than 8,200 Sudanese
refugees, the majority
women and children, live
here in a hot desert.
But the children have
classrooms—made of wood
frames and plastic sheets.
They sit on the bare floor
using school supplies
donated by UNICEF. Nobody
complains—they are happy
to be able to go to school.
For Makka, school is very
important. “My mother did
not go to school,” she says.
“She was going after the
cattle. Now with these
terrible events, she has lost
her cattle and she has
nothing left. If she had been
to school, she would not
have lost her knowledge.
That’s why I want to go to
school and learn how to read
and write.”
 I M P E R AT I V E N U M B E R E I G H T
The Numbers

Protect
At any one time, 300,000 children under the age of 18 are
serving as child soldiers.

Children
Since 1990, more than 2 million children
have been killed in wars, 6 million have been

8 seriously injured and more than 22 million have been driven

from their homes.

from War
In Cambodia children account for up to 50% of landmine
casualties. In Somalia more than 55% of landmine
victims are children.

Sixteen of the world’s 20 poorest countries

have suffered a major civil war in the past 15 years.

Millions of children are witnesses,

combatants, or victims of warfare every year.
Hundreds of thousands lose parents or other No child should
family members. Even when they are not experience the horrors
directly involved, children suffer from the
effects of war. of armed conflict

After the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, a clinical

psychologist said, “Among the symptoms “When will our
consciences grow so
Zlata’s
Diary
B O S N I A &
manifested by children are nightmares, difficulty H E R Z E G O V I N A

in concentrating, depression and a sense of tender that we will act to Sarajevo

hopelessness about the future.” Everywhere in the prevent human misery
world, children worry about war, conflict and violence. rather than avenge it?”
• Do you talk to the children in your life :: Eleanor Roosevelt ::
about their fears? BOSNIA & HERZEGOV IN A

Z
lata Filipovic was 11
years old when civil
war began in Bosnia.
She kept a diary from
1991 to 1993.
Zlata wrote about her life in
a city without food, electricity
or water, and worst of all, the
death of her best friend in a
bomb attack. One day she
wrote, “War has crossed out
the day and replaced it with
horror, and now horrors are
unfolding instead of days.”
“It looks to me,” she wrote,
“as though these politics
mean Serbs, Croats and
Muslims. But they are all
people. They are all the
same.”
Zlata and her family escaped
to safety in Paris in 1992. Her
diary has been published in
20 languages. Zlata and her
parents started a charity to
help the victims of the
Bosnian war, especially the
children of Sarajevo.
 I M P E R AT I V E N U M B E R N I N E
The Numbers

Protect the Nearly two million children every year die from water-
borne diseases. Another two million die of acute respiratory infections

Earth for
resulting from air pollution.

9
One-third of global disease can be attributed to
environmental risk factors. Over 40% of diseases caused by

Children
environmental factors affect children under five years of age.

In a UNICEF survey, 26% of children polled in

Europe and Asia would like their country to be a place in which
there is no pollution. Environmental issues such as poor lighting and
high levels of traffic were cited by 20 per cent of European and
Safeguard the environment at Central Asian children who feel unsafe in their neighborhoods.

global, national and local levels.

Air and water pollution,
overpopulation, global warming, the
disposal of hazardous waste, acid rain and the
destruction of the rain forest threaten us all. “We do not
inherit the earth
There is no such thing as a local problem— from our ancestors,
environmental issues affect everyone.
Interconnections are evident in the natural world. we borrow it Native
We must face environmental
issues and look for
from our children.”
Youth is A L A S K A

Environ-
Anchorage
solutions. :: Native American Proverb ::

mental
Juneau

Activist AL ASK A

W
Children hen Verner
are the Wilson, an Alaska
primary victims of Yup’ik Native, was
many of the effects of 15 years old he
the deterioration of the attended a meeting
natural environment. They sponsored by the National
will also have to deal with every Wildlife Fund. The meeting
problem that we do not solve. inspired him to become an
environmental activist. He is
• Do you and your children recycle, also determined to preserve
conserve energy and water, use public his culture.
transportation, walk or ride your
bike? What other Verner is soft-spoken, but
earth-friendly things passionate. He makes
can you do? speeches, writes newspaper
editorials and letters, and has
started an environmental
youth group in his
hometown, a small, coastal
community where fishing is
a way of life. Verner cares
deeply about issues like
toxins in subsistence foods,
pesticides, and farmed fish.
He sees these issues as
threatening his Native
way of life.
Verner was nominated for a
statewide “Spirit of Youth”
award for his efforts.
 I M P E R AT I V E N U M B E R T E N

Fight
The Numbers
A child born today in the developing world has a 4 out of 10 chance

Poverty:
of living in extreme poverty.

Malnutrition in children under two causes permanent

10 and irreversible damage on the body and mind. Babies who are

Invest
poor and malnourished are more likely to contract respiratory infections,
diarrhea, and measles.

in Children
Less than 50% of the population in 18 countries uses improved drinking
water sources. Children are particularly susceptible to
water-born diseases.

Invest in services that benefit

the poorest children and “What shall I give my
their families. children who are poor?
Who are adjudged the
leastwise of the land…”
:: Gwendolyn Brooks ::
Talara

P E R U
Trujillo

Lima
Children are the chief victims of
poverty all over the world. Even in

American
wealthy countries poor children lack
basic health and educational resources. PERU

Teens Work
In some countries, many children live

V
on the streets, begging, selling
anessa Burton is artichokes, tried weaving on
with Children
goods—or themselves.
16 and a busy a wooden loom, and taught
volunteer in her children about hand washing
in Peru
Investing in children pays large
dividends. hometown of and recycling. She and her
Atlanta, Georgia. She friends worked with shovels
• Do you donate time or money conducts church tutorials, and pickaxes to help villagers
to a favorite charity that provides teaches preschool children bring clean water to their
services to poor children? with challenges, and serves homes.
food at homeless shelters on
• Can you influence policy in Saturday mornings. “It's given me a new respect
favor of poor children in your for hardworking people,”
community? Vanessa had never been on Vanessa said.
an airplane before she and
her group, from CARE Corps
Teens, took off for a rural
valley outside Lima, Peru.
Vanessa helped to harvest
 Moving Future into the

It is the obligation of every person to

“We
insure that all children are raised in what the
will lead a global movement United Nations has called the “spirit of peace,
dignity, tolerance, freedom, and equality.”
for children that creates an unstoppable
momentum for change...” When each of us takes responsibility
to create change, our efforts
:: Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1990 :: are like ripples in a pond
that can radiate out to
the whole world.

What can you do?